Corner grinding machine



Oct. 22, 1940- P. J. KIRKMAN 1 6 CORNER GRINDING MACHINE Filed June25, 1958 s Sheets-Sheet 1 Zhwentor PETER d. KIRKMHN.

attorney Oct. 22, 1940. P. J. KIRKMAN 2,218,646

CORNER GRINDING MACHINE Filed June 25, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Qmaentor (Ittorneg PETE? cl. KIRK/WAN" Patented Oct. 22, 1940 PATENT OFFICE CORNER GRINDING MACHINE Peter J. Kirkinan, Ottawa, 111., assignor to Libbey- I Owens-Ford Glass Company, Toledo, Ohio, a

Corporation of Ohio Application June 25, 1938, Serial No. 215,713 '5 Claims. (01. 51-40) The present invention relates to grinding machines in general and more particularly to an improved machinefor grinding the corners of sheets or plates of glass and the like to remove the rough or sharp edges and obtain smooth, well finished surfaces. I v

An important object of the invention is the provision of a machine of this character effective for grindin two opposite corners of the glass sheets or plates simultaneously and 'in a rapid, accurate, and economical manner.

Another important object of the invention is the provision of a machine of this character which is of relatively simple, inexpensive construction, yet positive and eflicient in operation Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section through a portion of the supporting frame taken substantially on line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a verticalsection through the means for supporting the sheetsduring grinding, taken substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section through oneof the pivotally mounted runway sections taken substantially on line 55 of Fig. 1; and- I Fig. 6 is a vertical section through another portially on line 66 of Fig. 1. 1

With reference to the drawings, the grinding machine is designated in its entirety by them].- meral Ill and comprises briefly a verticallymovable supporting frame I I upon whichare mounted the vertical. grinding wheels l2 and I3. The

grinding wheels are horizontally spaced from one another and positioned to rotate about horizontal axes, each grinding Wheel being preferably provided in its periphery with a plurality of grooves it for receiving the corners of the sheets or plates of glass or the like lite be ground. The glass sheets are supported on edge in a vertical position above the grinding wheels [2 and l3by the supporting means designated in its entirety by the numeral l6. v

The glass sheets l5 are preferably maintained t on of the pivoted runway section taken substanstationary during grinding while the grinding wheels [2 and [3 are movable vertically into engagement with the two opposite corners or. and b of the said sheets toeffect the grinding of said corners simultaneously. The corners a of the sheets are received in the grooves M of grinding wheel I2 and the corners b in the grooves of grinding wheel l3. After the glass sheets have been properly ground, the grinding wheels are lowered out of engagement with the sheets to 10' permit the removal thereof and the positioning of another group of sheets to be treated.

More specifically, the supportingframe I! is substantiall rectangular both in side elevation and top plan and is slidably mounted upon vertical posts I! provided at the four corners thereof. As best shown in Fig. 3, there is arranged within each corner of the supporting frame, the vertically spaced bracket plates l8 and i9 provided with openings for loosely receiving the respective post I1 therethrough. To assist in supporting the frame H and also to facilitate the raising and lowering thereof, there may be provided at each of the four corners of said frame a counterweight 20. Each counterweight is attached to one end of a sprocket chain 2| which passes upwardly over a sprocket 22 and is fastened at its opposite .end to a bolt or the like 23, said bolt passing.

through an arm 24 fixed to the supporting frame I l and being secured thereto by nuts 25. The sprockets 22 at one end of the frame are loosely mounted upon a transverse shaft 26 while the sprockets 22 at the opp site end of said frame are loosely mounted upon a similar trans-verse shaft 21. Each of the shafts 26 and 21 is supported at its opposite ends in bracket arms 28 and 29 secured to the opposite ends of a fiat plate 30 carried upon the tops of the opposed posts 1! and fastened thereto in any suitable manner such as by means of the. bolts 3| and nuts 32. 1

The means for raising and lowering the supporting frame I l comprises an air or hydraulically operated cylinder 33 adapted tobe controlled by the operator. The piston 34 of said cylinder 33 has attached to its outer end two sprocket chains 4'5 35 and 36. The sprocket chain 35 passes upwardly over a sprocket 31 (Fig. 3) mounted upon a horizontal stub shaft 38 carried by a bracket 39 fixed to the frame II. The sprocket chain 35' continues upwardly over a second sprocket 49 carried by the transverse shaft 26 and is fastened at its opposite end,by means of a bolt 4| and nuts 42, to an arm 43 fixed to the frame I l. The sprocket chain 36 passes over a sprocket 44 also carried by the stub shaft 38 and about a second 5.:

sprocket 45 mounted upon the bracket 39. The sprocket chain then extends horizontally to the opposite end of the frame where it passes upwardly first over a sprocket 46 carried by bracket 41 and then over a sprocket 48 mounted upon transverse shaft 21. The sprocket chain is fastened at its end to an arm 49 fixed to frame II. With this arrangement, it will be seen that upon operation of the cylinder 33 to retract the piston 34, the supporting frame II and grinding wheels I2 and I3 carried thereby can be moved upwardly upon the vertical rods I'I whereas when the piston 34 is moved outwardly, the said frame and grinding wheels will be lowered.

The grinding wheels I2 and I3 are mounted upon horizontal transverse shafts 59 and 5| respectively, each being journaled at its opposite ends in bearings 52 and 53. The grinding wheels I2 and I3 are driven by motors 54 and 55 respectively, the shaft 56 of each motor carrying a drive pinion 5'! meshing with a spur gear 58 fixed to the respective grinding wheel shaft 50 or 5 I.

The supporting means I6 for the glass sheets I5 comprises a longitudinally extending, U-shaped channel member having a bottom 59 and. the vertical side members 69 and BI, said channel member being supported at the opposite ends of the supporting frame upon standards or thelike 62. Mounted within the channel member, between the two grinding wheels, is a stationary block 63 to the upper surface of which is secured a pad 64 of rubber or the like having a plurality of grooves therein for receiving the bottom edges of the glass sheets I5. As shown, the length of the glass sheets is greater than the length of the supporting block 63 so that the corners a and b to be ground project therebeyond.

The bottom 59 of the channel member is cut away at opposite sides of the supporting block 63 to provide slots 65 and 66 through which the upper portions of the grinding wheels I2 and. I3 are adapted to project when they are moved upwardly to engage the corners a and b of the glass sheets as indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 1. Mounted within the channel member at opposite sides of the supporting block 63 are the roller runway sections 61 and 68 provided with the supporting rollers 69 and I0 over which the glass sheets can be moved to and from grinding position. The rollers of each runway section are preferably provided with grooves 'II aligning with the grooves in supporting block 63 and are carried by shafts I2 mounted at their opposite ends in side members 13 and M respectively. Each roller runway section is pivotally mounted at the end thereof remote from the sheet supporting block 63-, and this is accomplished by extending the shaft I2 of the end roll'through the side members 60 and GI of the channel member as shown in Fig. 5. During the movement of the glass sheets into or out of grinding position, the pivoted runway sections 61 and 68 are disposed in horizontal position as indicated by the full lines in Fig. 1, at which time the grooves II in the rollers 69 and 10 are in horizontal alignment with the grooves in the sheet supporting block 63.

Upon raising of the grinding wheels I2 and I3 to effect the grinding of the corners a and b of the glass sheets I5, the runway sections 6'! and 68 are adapted to be automatically raised to broken line position so as not to interfere with the proper grinding of the sheets. For this purpose, there is pivoted to one roll of each of the runway sections 61 and v(i8 an arm I5, the opposite end being pivoted to the shaft 50 or 5| of the respective grinding wheel or to any other part of the frame II. Thus, it will be seen that as the frame II is raised to move the grinding wheels upwardly to grinding position, the arms 16 will simultaneously swing the inner adjacent ends of the runway sections upwardly out of the way.

In operation, the supporting frame II is normally maintained in a lowered position with the grinding wheels I2 and I3 below the supporting means I6 and the pivoted runway sections 6'! and 68 in horizontal alignment with one another. The glass sheets I5 to be ground are then properly placed upon the supporting block 63 and while held in such position, either by the operator or in any other desired manner, the frame I I is raised to bring the grinding wheels I2 and I3 into engagement with the two opposite corners a and b of the said sheets to grind the same simultaneously. Upon raising of the grinding wheels, the runway sections 61 and 68 will be swung upwardly out of the way as explained above. After the corners of the glass sheets have been properly ground, the supporting frame II is lowered to move the grinding wheels out of engagement with the sheets and to again bring the runway sections 61 and 68 into horizontal alignment with one another. The ground sheets I5 can then be removed and a new group of sheets to be treated arranged in grinding position. The amount of material removed from the corners of the sheets or, in other words, the extent of the grinding operation can be varied by controlling the raising movement of the supporting frame.

The grinding apparatus herein provided can be either used in connection with the so-called Weber type of edging machine to receive the glass sheets therefrom or it can be employed by itself as an individual machine. mounted outwardly of the roller runway section 61 a plurality of horizontally aligned conveyor rolls "I6 and at the outer side of runway section 68, a plurality of similar horizontally aligned conveyor rolls TI. If the grinding apparatus is arranged at the end of a Weber type machine to receive the glass sheets therefrom, the conveyor rollers 16 will be arranged in horizontal alignment with the conveyor rollers of said Weber machine. After the corners a and b of the glass sheets I5 have been properly ground, the sheets can be moved over the rollers 10 of the runway section 68 and thence over the conveyor rollers I7 As shown, there is I to the desired location or to another machine where the sheets can be further treated.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as the preferred embodiment of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for grinding the corners of sition upon relative movement between said sheet supporting means and grindingwheels so as not to interfere with the grinding operation.

2. In a machine for grinding the corners of sheets or plates of glass and the like, means for supporting the sheet in a substantially fixed position, movably mounted runway sections disposed at opposite sides of said sheet supporting means and over which the sheet can be moved into and out of grinding position, a'pair of rot tatable grinding wheels, means for moving said grinding wheels to engage 'two opposite corners of the said sheet to grind the same simultaneously,

into and out of grinding position, a pair of horizontally spaced, rotatable grinding wheels mounted beneath said sheet supporting means, means for raising said grinding wheels to engage two opposite corners of the said sheet to grind the same simultaneously, and means for swinging said runway sections upwardly upon raising of,

said grinding wheels so as not to interfere with the grinding operation. 4. In a machine for grinding the corners of sheets or plates of glass and the like, means for supporting the sheet on edge in a substantially fixed position, pivotally mounted runway sections ing means and over which the sheet can be moved into and out of grinding position, a vertically movable supporting frame arranged beneath said sheet supporting means, a pair of horizontallyspaced, vertical grinding wheels mounted upon said frame, means for driving said grinding wheels, means for raising said frame to bring said grinding wheels into engagement with two opposite corners of the said sheet to grind the same simultaneously, and means actuated by raising movement of said frame to swing said runway sections upwardly so as not to interfere with the grinding operation.

5. In a machine for grinding-the corners of sheets or plates of glass and the like, means for supporting the sheet on edge in a substantially fixed position, pivotally mounted runway sections arranged at opposite sides of said'sheet supporting means and over which the sheet can be moved into and out of grinding position, a vertically I movable supporting frame arranged beneath said sheet supporting means, a pair of horizontally spaced, vertical grinding wheels mounted upon said frame, means carried by said frame for driving said grinding wheels, means for raising said frame to bring said grinding wheels into engagement with two opposite corners of the said sheet to grind the same simultaneously, means for counterbalancing said frame, and operative connections between said frame and said runway sections for swinging the said runway sections upwardly upon raising of the said frame so as not to interfere with the grinding operation.

PETER J. KIRKMAN.

disposed at opposite sides of said sheet support 

